​Dear All
 
Thankyou so much for your continued support of Nijera Shikhi in Bangladesh. The families of the children who are befitting from your financial contributions are so very grateful that the school keeps open for the education of their children.
Taking advantage of a long weekend in India in March, where I am currently usually working ( for the Hindu festival of Holi),  I decided to take a visit to Dhaka to visit the NS school, and to encourage them in their work, in March this year. It was good to be able to see the work they are still doing, and to be able to give you an update. I am actually in the UK for a short break (till June 8th) so I finally have found the time to write to you.
On the Saturday evening, I celebrated the breaking of the fast with Raden Siddiqui and his family, at his sisters house, where she looks after their mother Professor Suraiya Siddiqui who was the guiding light of Nijera Shikhi but now is suffering with severe dementia, and is unable to lead the organisation. On the Sunday morning, 16th March 2025, Mrs Rezia Salam, the Chair, had called a Board Meeting, at the Institute of Graphics, Sat Masjid Road, where the current director of Nijera Shikhi, Md Abdul Hamid had attended in the past and still had connections. There was an excellent turnout of 8 people, all interested and committed to the work of Nijera Shikhi, and we heard the reports of the John P Hastings School and went through the business of the last few years activity of Nijera Shikhi. At present there are 57 students in total, in 5 classes – 20 in the primary class, 15 in Class 2, 10 in class 3, 8 in Class 4, and 4 in class 5.
We decided to rearrange some posts within the organisation, and asked Professor Suraiya’s son Raden to be the new Chair of the organisation, as Rezia Salam was happy to step down, and he had offered his office staff to help with any work they could do on behalf of the school. They asked me to be on the Board as a consultant advisor. Md Hamid will continue to be Executive Secretary, with the support of Mrs Rezia Salam.

Their annual accounts are as follows:

​Then we went to the school in Adabar Bazar for a visit, where we were eagerly awaited by the children. We spoke to them for some time, distributed some sweets, and then sat and discussed how impossibly hot it was in the rented premises, with inadequate fans. We decided to buy another fan and an extractor fan to have a throughput of air ( these were fitted on April 14th 2025) . In addition, the teachers said they really needed an increase in salary, so we agreed this as well, as they seem to work very hard with so many children in difficult circumstances, In addition we gave them a 2000 BDT donation for Eid which was upcoming. We discussed looking for different premises where the temperature would be more helpful to learning, Raden said his office staff could look for a new place in the same area, though it may be difficult, as space is at a premium in this area of Dhaka. It was a very busy area, with many businesses running along the main narrow street.
Raden is a busy person, running 4 businesses in Dhaka, including selling carbon offsetting stoves, and his work involves a lot of international travel which leaves him little time for offering to Nijera Shikhi. However, we hope that he will be able to contribute his skills and ideas to developing plans for Nijera Shikhi in the very near future. I will continue to encourage and motivate them from afar! I attach some photos to give you an insight into the school.
Yours with grateful thanks for all your continued support, including Russ for maintaining the accounts and obtaining gift aid in the UK, and the Friends of Nijera Shikhi in the UK team who meet regularly to support the work in Bangladesh.
 
Karen 

​Revd. John P Hasting School
Adabor bazar, Dhaka

Student list 
2024 

1. Pre primary   20
2. Primary .       20
3. Class two      18
4. Class three   15
5. Class four     15
6. Class five     05 
Total                  93 

Yearly Expenditure :
1. School rent - 20000×12     = 240000
2. Teacher Salary 4000×2×12 = 96000
3. Cleaner salary  1000×1×12 =  12000
4. Stationary and other       .   =  10000
5. Total expenditure                 = 358000

The past two years have been especially hard on the people of Bangladesh, due to ongoing issues with the coronavirus. As everything was locked down in Dhaka, people went back to their home villages where there was insufficient work and food for all of them, so there was no means of earning money either in the city or in the villages. With no possibility of furlough payments, people had to get by as best as they could, often struggling to survive for the past 2 years without any source of income at all.

The last microcredit programme (of the three that Nijera Shikhi ran) had to close during the pandemic, so the only work that Nijera Shikhi is now doing is running the John P Hastings School in Adabar, Dhaka. As it has existed for over ten years, it has a very good reputation in the neighbourhood.

The John P Hastings School reopened in January after an easing of Government restrictions. The two teachers were very happy to be back at work, and the school currently has 54 students, 29 girls and 25 boys in the 6 classes that are running on a shift basis, to make the most of the space available. New books were obtained from the Primary Education department for all the students in January.

We report a change in staffing at Nijera Shikhi:
Professor Suraiya Siddiquy is dropping her role of executive secretary – many thanks to her for all that she has done over many years.
Md. Abdul Hamid is the new Executive secretary, previously he was the treasurer
Professor Rezia Salam will be chair of the Board – she has been involved with Nijera Shikhi since its inception and has previously been the Executive Secretary.
​
As NS has insufficient funds to pay for the office in Dhaka, and there are no employees left, the contents of the office has moved to Savar, under the supervision of Md Hamid , where no rent will have to be paid.